The 35-year-old daughter of a tycoon who once bankrolled the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front said Wednesday she plans to run as an independent candidate against President Paul Kagame in August's elections.

"Everybody is scared to express themselves because they are too scared of the ruling party," said Diane Rwigara, pledging to tackle poverty, injustice and security problems.

Rwigara distanced herself from the FPR after the death of her father, Assinapol Rwigara, in 2015. She says his death was an assassination, but police reject her allegations and say the cause was a road accident.

An influential industrialist, her father made his fortune in real estate and played an important role financing the FPR in the 1990s.

"I am not here to talk about my father," said Rwigara in a press conference in Kigali, admitting however that his death was "one reason" that had prompted her to run.